It's been rough watching my Mom on oxygen for three days, and then on a ventilator for seven and counting. Now, I have this inner feeling that things all around are moving in an upward direction. There's talk of weaning Mom from the ventilator beginning tomorrow. Tonight she winked when she saw my daughter Karen. Then my sister Stephanie said, "Don't I get a wink, Mom?" Mom winked at her. Never one to be outdone I said, "Can I have two winks Mom?" I got my two winks! :)
Moments
Moments
Friday, June 10, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
THE WEEK FROM H.........EAVEN: The Graduations
Hard to believe, but in just one short week, I became the proud father of two college graduates!
Wasn't it just yesterday that the principal of my oldest son Kevin's preschool had to grab one of John's hands while I grabbed the other one, and together we dragged him to the car. You see, John threw a tantrum because his big brother got to be dropped off at school and he wanted to stay, and I had newborn Karen on my back in a carrier. The other preschool parents looked on with sympathy and relief that it wasn't their child. My desire to low key my arrivals and departures at that school was severely jeopardized. John has grown up into one of the most laid back and caring individuals I know. He is comfortable in his own skin and we are so proud of him and celebrate his milestone!
...and Karen...what can't you say about Karen? This is the girl who had a neighborhood kid fall on her on a backyard jungle jim and exclaimed that she couldn't breathe. We rushed her to the car and took her to the emergency room, had her examined, and got the good news that no bones were broken. Years and years later, she and I rode in the car together and she informed me that about half way to the hospital, she began feeling better, but didn't want to tell me because we were so close to the hospital and she thought I would get mad. Karen has grown into a caring, kind and hard working girl. She has grown her hair and donated it to Locks of Love several times. She is a leader, a learner, and a doer. We are so proud of her academic and professional achievement! Catch her on Action News by following the link below!
There were many famous and fantastic speakers at their graduations, but John and Karen were our stars!
Congratulations kids.....We love you!
Friday, June 3, 2011
...No, Sirius-ly!
PROBLEM:
I am a stickler for clean, uninterrupted sound when I listen to my music. Years ago, when I played records, I listened until the record was scratched, and either I heard the same lyric in a song over and over and over again…or I didn’t hear the lyric at all because the record skipped. I didn’t make any conscious movements because I didn’t want to make the record skip. I wanted to hear the music as it was meant to be heard.
I never listened to 8 track tapes because, although they didn’t skip or scratch, they interrupted a song in the middle while the track changed, and then the song resumed a few seconds later. It was unsettling to say the least. I was never fond of cassette tapes either because they never had the oomph in the sound provided by a record and usually there was an unwanted hissing sound with the recording.
Then cd’s came along and I resisted buying them because one would need to take out a second mortgage to replace his record collection. Finally prices came down and I did make the jump to cd’s, but, alas the jump was a short one because now we have ITunes and can download music and put it on an Ipod, so I can have thousands of songs on a little doohickey. My cd’s could be put on ITunes and the Ipod too! I could carry my whole music collection in my palm!
So why…..why I ask you…do we have this thing called Satellite radio? I never did like listening to the radio much because I can’t stand commercials, and I like to select the music I listen to, not have some computer or deejay select a music mix for me. Now I am driving in the car with Satellite, and am listening to a comedy channel with Bill Cosby telling me about his childhood hernia, and the kids in the hood and Fat Albert were ‘hey-heying’, and I was laughing and laughing, and I couldn’t wait to hear the final punch lines. Then it happened. I passed a row of trees and…..hissing coming from the radio! No Bill Cosby, no hernia, no Fat Albert, no doctor, no nothing…for 15 seconds.
By the time I was finished with the row of trees, the signal returned and there was no more Bill Cosby, but a different comedian with another funny story. I wasn’t going to miss the end of this one too, so I switched to 60’s on 6. They were playing the best mix of commercial free music! Creedence, Marvin Gaye, and ‘I’m a Believer’ by the Monkees. My favorite part of the song was coming! The part where Mickey proclaims, OOOOOHHHHH, I’m a believer and I couldn’t leave her if I tried… but with today’s advances in music listening, it became OOOOOHHHHHH, I’m a b (ssssssssssssssssssss) eave her if I tr (ssssssssssssssssssss), Ah Yes I saw her face, now I’m a believer…….
You can’t play a record in a car, and you may have a hard time finding something to play it on anywhere. No cars come with cassette players any more. I find the radio unbearable. If I have five different stations programmed in, all five are having station breaks and commercials at the same time, or playing songs that are just okay, and all the voices are sounding alike to me. Now, I am the proud owner of Satellite radio and am paying for the agida*…yes, paying for my digestive system to be compromised by interrupted music and comedy routines. After a couple days of listening to Satellite, I am listening to a music mix that someone else has selected for me, and I am hearing the same songs and comedy stuff over and over.
SOLUTION:
When the radio gets kind of boring,
And I want my own tunes to start roaring
I get my playlist out
And soon I get blissed out
And play all the music I’m storing!
*agida - ah-jid-ah - Italian - indigestion, heartburn!
*agida - ah-jid-ah - Italian - indigestion, heartburn!
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